Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-02-26

| hawk. These who come to-day are COM
ing for shelter. They say practically: If
Wiz there is anything in Christian association,
let me try its influence; IL there is anything
IN kindly surroundings, let me have it !"
where thou goest will go. Thy people
shall be my people, thy God my God Where
thou diest i will die and there will DO
buried. The Lord do 50 To- mo apd more
also if aught but death part thee and me.
They come for shelter. When trouble comes
| to you, you take valerian to soothe the nerves,
or you take alcohol to revive the spirits;
but the medicines fail and the stimulants
4 fail Then you try the ekcitementS OF bust
ness, or you try the merry making OF the
1clpbrooms; but you are like the dove that
EwenfoutI from the ark. ltflew to the north
Aand &her@ wasa waste of water, to the south,
to the east and to the west-there was moth.
idg but a waste of waters in which floated
the carcasses of the dead world. and the first
solid thing the dove touched after leaving the
ark was the window Of the ark. No peace
| out Of God No hope, no comfort, no solace
have tried the solace of this world. 1t is
most insufficient. Oh. the infinite qhacl1ery
4 Of this worlds comfort 1T cannot help an
I Immortal spirit. ~ Il
In Natures barren soil;
All we can boast till Christ we know,
Is vanity and toll.
] But where the Lord has planted grace,
ia And made His glories known,
The fruits of Heavenly peace areIfoppd. rr,
And there alone" tcd Al,
l. The world has tried to comfort YOU. You
lost parent. IA friend came in and said i:
4 well, that jsAecording to D law Of nature
that your fhthef should expire" Any. COM
\ fort in thAtU None. You lost your little
! Child. Somebody came fnatid saidk "Well,
| perhaps If the child had lived it might have
turned out badly" Any hope, any comfort
| IN of all 1,c%
erty. A friend came in abd said
very nfcsrtain.%. Y6u knew sthdt before.
No comfort. 1t is miserable quaclery when
the world tries to comfort soul. But hers
l Christ comes and he says: II took yotir prop
erty that you might appreciate better the
Heavenly treasures 4 took physical Health that
yofImight better appreciate sbirithal health Il
! took your loved ones for had bktteFN end
brighter place for them. and wanted
them at the Egate when YOU come
thEbWzhE Eo-iyour soul i comfort
al and 4tlfe tdkrs are dried and the
wounds are healei. The air sometimes gets
very dark with ravens wings, and they SHUT
/ out all brightness and all comfort, hnd when
| it is so dark, and the voices of these ravens
make the air horrible with their sound, then
Christ comes in to soothe the soul, and he.
says. ssPhe mountains may de2aft aud the
J hills, be.reaDved bht my loving kindness
| will never fail YOU Shelter-efe
! shelter this sd0vecot of the Gospel
7 But this flock Of souls that have come into
the Kingdom of God to-day, are like doves
to their windows because they fly home.
The most of the birds have no home. Win
| ter in one cline summer in another CLINE.
This year nest in one tree; next year nest
in another tree The golden oriolS of Ger
many stays only three months there and
then it is gone Tho linnet of Norway
flies across the sea to get rid of the
wintry blast. The heron, the gross
beak and the goldfinch are all migratory.
They have no home. But the pigeons. the
doves spoken of in the text they have the
dovecot for the summer and for the winter.
1t is q perpetual home like the warm heart Of
Christ, the dovecot of eternal mercy. Oh,
how many have found the mercy and favor
Of Christ all they needed in all weathers,
weather and summer weather, spring
weather and autumn weather A
perpetual and loving Christi What
does the Psalmist sayl We come I'M
der the feathers of the Almighty" Ourfor-
nay drop ten aegss zero The tSs
winds of p6rsecutioh may blow against us,
the Jackals of death may stalk forth at us!
! Home, safely home, in the heart of God,
nothing can disturb us. Nothing can over
throw us. The everlasting God is our shell
Iitsr. The Sheriff may sele3us out and our
.istrangersN butt Christ, our home is a home
l3forever And ySs hear people, talking as
Hthough whenA man ecaSne a Christian he
Nput out ona trackless moorsAs thdtgh he went
flyaudering in the sands ofaz9feat Sahara.
No. LAS doves to the windows"
n This great flock OF souls that come into the
Kingdom of God to-day, are like doves to
their windows, because they come in fiocks.
/ The buzzard, With filthy wil9 fitting up
from the carfion, is alone. %f6u Look into
the sky and once in while you can find
solitary bird winging by; but tbs doves
these Souls to-day comedy scores and lkpn-
dreds, whole fiocks of then! Not
with an army, but a solid column.
Not stray drop on the cheek or the hand
so that you are hardly aware whether it
shower. Not the raking up of few glean@i
fngs, but the fun sheases tossed into the
garner. CAS- doves to their windows. Some
Of them are young, you have noticed, and
the first time they use their wings is TO ty
into the Kingdom Of God. Some are
The shot and .Futtied (, Of the tempest,
and they flew far out at sea, and we thought.
they would never come back again, and some
have dipped their wings IN fountains of sin
and death, and some made very crooked
course as they few along. but they have
CudukOu hAolE COuIhc, Oucy Hdfo CDluc -DoOA
''as doves to their windows" Oh, ] shall not
to my dying hour cease to praise God
for the manifestation Of His grace here to-
day. Praise Him, sun and moon and stars.
Praise Him, Church militant on earth.
Praise Him, Church triumphant in Heaven.
Let the Church on earth raise its right hand,
anaAet the Church of Haven lower. itslright
hand, until they clasp in joy and congratula-
Il ton, and then let the elders of the church put
I the wine Of celebration to our hips, and let,
the cupbearers of Heaven bring from the
\ vaults Of eternity, the oldest wine prepared
! by Him who trod the winepress alone, and
! let two worlds at once keep Jubilee. Qkryes
an glad " many Of the young havstorhe
! Before the time OF Robert Rdikes there was
no combined effort forathe salvation of the
young. People were allowed to go on in their
| sin, and after while were brought back,
IL they were drought back at all.
There has been D. notion in the church that
people must be allowed to Sow their wild
oats and after a while they will come back
have noticed tuaU 30 UuJ Oh IU0 OF the people
| who SOW wild oats never reap any other
crop; they SOW to the wind and they
reap the whrlwind. The church has
found out that it is easier to keepla train on
the track than to get Il on the track whap
once it is OF the track Tina experienced
reinsman checks the fiery steed at the first
jump, for he knows that IL it get under full
4 a. "a Al. -.